Provo superintendent outlines back-to-school priorities: attendance, behavior supports and clearer communication

Superintendent Wendy Dow told the Provo City School Board the district’s top back-to-school priorities are attendance, behavior supports and improved communication between schools, teachers and families as the new year opens. Dow said school starts the following day and described attendance as a major area of emphasis. She praised the communications team for developing an attendance toolkit and said the district will use social media and principal leadership to encourage student attendance. “They've created an attendance toolkit...we're really trying to do some cool social media things to make kids realize that they really wanna be at school,” she said. On behavior, Dow said the student services team has developed toolkits to support teachers and administrators working with challenging behaviors and that the district is trying to provide those supports in a systemic way. She also said the district is creating a public dashboard to show progress on the strategic plan and to provide clearer, more timely data to parents and stakeholders. Dow thanked staff and the board for a focus on transparency and on using data to show progress. She announced the district would visit kindergarten classrooms and other sites in the weeks after school starts to better understand daily operations and to show support for school staff. Why it matters: Attendance and behavior initiatives affect student learning time and in-classroom supports; the district’s communication changes are intended to make data about progress and programs more accessible to parents and the public.